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Impact of technology on human beings
Impact of technology on human beings
Impact of technology on human beings
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Technology among Blackface Performances and Freak Shows
To understand the nature of Blackface performances and Freak shows throughout the years, one must understand the culture named today, popular (pop) culture, as the medium that brought light to these concepts, that once was in the dark. Danesi states the era, pop culture, gave rise to the people since the 1950's, regardless or class or education, to shape fashion, music, lifestyle, and other forms of entertainment today (2015). As a culture, members within form a unity of interest, in this case, it is shaped from media and technology. Ultimately, individuals gravitate towards a pop culture since the majority follow the trend, unfortunately, there is the side that American's are wanting
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to hide that is also part of this era. Danesi states the culture one is born into shapes the individual and how they portray their behavior and worldview of society (2015). Furthermore, pop culture is a democracy, by the people and for the people, and it can be seen in the rise and fall of Blackface Minstrelsies and Freak shows. The word "Blackface" is a word that gives off an emotional factor of anger, sadness, and history of racism.
Blackface Minstrelsy were performances in the 1800's put together by Caucasians with painted on darker skin color to portray another race other than their own. The skits done in these performances were dark humor of how the people act in their view, but with an underlying message of racism toward the African-American individuals. At this time, these performances were advertised in posters with drawings of cartoon like humans. Saxton explains how these performances made their way into the nations pop culture category with its skits of informational dehumanizing ideas of the race (2011). As stated, the skits can be easily seen as the race of African-Americans' oppression within the Jacksonian era. As technology in the 1800's is far from what technology is apparent today, Saxton argues that even though word or mouth was successful, new methods, such as, steam-powered presses became the newer and faster way to acquire large masses of audiences to fill the theaters (2011). Given the popular demand of these skits, the new use of technology helped facilitate monetary value, but for a wrong cause. On the contrary, technology gave exposure to the past and made waves to the decline of these performances to go on in the present. The use of social media has become a platform for advocates of anti-racism to shine light to what the word "Blackface" means and how it has a strong emotional tie, with that being said, these performances have not been in the media in quite some time, for as the world can see
everything. Moreover, Freak shows have been a form of entertainment to all individuals who do not have a disability, are not classified as an ethnic minority, have a body deformation, and the like. These shows were popular in the early 1800's and continued until the 20th century, the technology utilized to help facilitate their popularity and demand of monetary incentives was photography and a railroad that transported the show to go to other cities. Photography captured the fascination of who they are without the use of today's technology altering the photograph. To gravitate the audience, a Freak, or more specifically Alice Doherty, whom had a disease that caused her to grow hair all over her face, was photographed using juxtaposition, a technique used to highlight difference from the average person. In contrast, Fahy describes the use of technology as being the decline for the show and ultimately had them turning the other way to look for other forms of entertainment (2006). For example, Coney Island's Dreamland Park featured the nature of these performers, but since the expansion of the subway in New York, individuals could go to other places to look for entertainment, and the audiences began to decline. Fahy also states that films and movie theaters were coming into play during the 1930's, in which a film about freaks was featured in an artificial way, making it well assured that freaks would never make it to the big screen in the big city of Hollywood, California (2006). Overall, the decline made it harder for these performers to earn an income and had to diminish their way of life to establish a new sense of identity in what has become modern America. Overall, pop culture has been rooted since the 1950's, with the help of modern technology, new trends and topics have been added. Keeping in mind, a pop culture needs individuals whom are young, interested, and ultimately are built on a democracy to have structure. History plays the role of the older individual turning back in time to be reminded of the days where the culture at their time of youth was potentially Blackface and Freak shows. Technology helped facilitate popularity in Blackface performances with the help of faster produced posters to help lure a greater number of audiences. In contrast, a downfall in popularity since the underlying message of racism and oppression was clear. Among Freak show performers, the use of technology allowed them to go to cities, to and from, to perform for other audiences, in contrast, films in the 1920's were being produced, which led to the audience turning to a new form of entertainment.
As Dunwitty also stated in the movie, Bamboozled, “I want a show that will make headlines, that will have millions and millions of households tuned in, glued to their televisions every week. I want advertisers dying to buy on this show.” So if the viewers are not appealing to the over exaggeration of racial stereotypes being given to them the media would have to change their techniques towards reaching their audience, which could lead to the end of the emphasize on racial stereotypes in the Media. Spike Lee’s movie Bamboozled was created as a satirical movie to emphasis how the media uses anything they can to attract an audience. It also gives viewers a first hand experience on how many viewers would get caught up in the humor of the movie they would overlook the emphasis on the racial stereotypes being used. The movie being created as a satirical movie makes it clearer for people to see how the media really works and what lengths they are willing to go to in order to get as many people interested in their industry as possible. In which was the same with Pierre Delacroix’s goals in creating “ Mantan: The New Millennium Minstrel Show” which was a show that was suppose
Minstrel shows were developed in the 1840's and reached its peak after the Civil War. They managed to remain popular into the early 1900s. The Minstrel shows were shows in which white performers would paint their faces black and act the role of an African American. This was called black facing. The minstrel show evolved from two types of entertainment popular in America before 1830: the impersonation of blacks given by white actors between acts of plays or during circuses, and the performances of black musicians who sang, with banjo accompaniment, in city streets. The 'father of American minstrelsy' was Thomas Dartmouth 'Daddy' Rice, who between 1828 and 1831 developed a song-and-dance routine in which he impersonated an old, crippled black slave, dubbed Jim Crow. Jim Crow was a fool who just spent his whole day slacking off, dancing the day away with an occasional mischievous prank such as stealing a watermelon from a farm. Most of the skits performed on the Minstrel shows symbolized the life of the African American plantations slaves. This routine achieved immediate popularity, and Rice performed it with great success in the United States and Britain, where he introduced it in 1836. Throughout the 1830s, up to the founding of the minstrel show proper, Rice had many imitators.
The documentary “Rize” by David LaChapelle, focuses on the lives of Black Americans who live in South Central Los Angeles and the struggles they go through in their daily lives. Moreover the film also introduces two types of dancing groups that they have in the community. These dance groups are meant to keep the youths and children occupied and distracted from all the problems that have been going on in their community, such as the LA riot. The two styles of dancing are Clowning and Krumping. Clowning was created by Tommy the Clown in 1992. Tommy used to be a formal drug dealer, he went from having his life together to losing all his money and house. However, instead of doing nothing productive with his life, he decided to help his community by changing the lives of others through entertainment. In addition, not only did this dancing group help him get to a better place in life but also the group members are like his family. His main goal was to help put similes on people’s faces and help get some of these children and youths away from gangs. On the other hand, Krumping was also generated from Clowning, however Krumpers believe that their form of entertainment is different from clowning. Moreover, these dancing groups main focus is to distract the youths and children in the community by giving them the opportunity to do something they love, which is dancing. Furthermore, passion, spiritual connections and connection to the African culture are conveyed through the film by Clowning and Krumping.
Detrimental stereotypes of minorities affect everyone today as they did during the antebellum period. Walker’s subject matter reminds people of this, as does her symbolic use of stark black and white. Her work shocks. It disgusts. The important part is: her work elicits a reaction from the viewer; it reminds them of a dark time in history and represents that time in the most fantastically nightmarish way possible. In her own words, Walker has said, “I didn’t want a completely passive viewer, I wanted to make work where the viewer wouldn’t walk away; he would either giggle nervously, get pulled into history, into fiction, into something totally demeaning and possibly very beautiful”. Certainly, her usage of controversial cultural signifiers serve not only to remind the viewer of the way blacks were viewed, but that they were cast in that image by people like the viewer. Thus, the viewer is implicated in the injustices within her work. In a way, the scenes she creates are a subversive display of the slim power of slave over owner, of woman over man, of viewed over
Marlon T. Riggs’ video, Color Adjustment, offers the viewer an exciting trip though the history of television, focusing on the representation, or lack thereof, of African-Americans. A perfectly chosen combination of television producers, actors, sociologists, and cultural critics join forces to offer insight and professional opinion about the status of African-Americans in television since the inception of television itself. As Color Adjustment traces the history of television shows from Amos n’ Andy and Julia to "ghetto sitcoms" and The Cosby Show, the cast of television professionals and cultural critics discuss the impacts those representations have on both the African-American community and our society as a whole. Color Adjustment continually asks the question: "Are these images positive?" This video raises the viewer’s awareness about issues of positive images for African-Americans on television.
In Stuart Hall’s “What is This “Black” in Black Popular Culture?” the historical implication of popular culture in the U.S is examined and the influence that blackness has in it is deconstructed. According to the text, the departure of European concepts of culture after WWII sparked a hegemonic shift as the United States emerged as a world power. Due to this, the U.S. became the epicenter of global culture production. However, since America has always had a large ethnic population due to slavery, the true face of American popular culture was black American vernacular traditions. Even today, slang that emerge from black ghettos and communities become highly popular with people of other races. In fact, much of black culture is not just our culture,
”Representation” is the way symbols are used to communicate within society to express ideas, which have certain meanings (Luther, 2012). African Americans in particular have been represented negatively throughout the course of history in a variety of different media fashions. Stereotypes of African Americans are frequently conveyed in music, news coverages, magazines, and even films (Lemons,
In particular a link is drawn between the concept of Bling and an “urban baroque aesthetic” (497) Gispert discusses how jewelry, clothing,and fingernails (497) depicted with the baroque style of the seventeenth century were “all fundamentally about excess” (497) similarly to the concept of bling within hip hop culture. This concept is then broken down further and examined using this photo series on cheerleaders to further illustrate the relationship between features of hip hop and contemporary art is not just about the representation of young black men, but also takes into account “ the contemporary moment in which black youth culture circulates across cultures, ethnicities, and nations as a fungible commodity”
Woll, Allen L and Randall M Miller. Ethnic and Racial Images in American Film and Television: Historical Essays and Bibliography. n.d. Print.
Racism and discrimination continue to be a prevalent problem in American society. Although minorities have made significant strides toward autonomy and equality, the images in media, specifically television, continue to misrepresent and manipulate the public opinion of blacks. It is no longer a blatant practice upheld by the law and celebrated with hangings and beatings, but instead it is a subtle practice that is perceived in the entertainment and media industries. Whether it’s appearing in disparaging roles or being negatively portrayed in newscasts, blacks continue to be the victims of an industry that relies on old ideas to appeal to the majority. The viscous cycle that is the unconscious racism of the media continues to not only be detrimental to the white consumers, who base what they know about blacks by what is represented in television, but also the black consumers, who grow up with a false sense of identity.
Over the course of approximately one-hundred years there has been a discernible metamorphosis within the realm of African-American cinema. African-Americans have overcome the heavy weight of oppression in forms such as of politics, citizenship and most importantly equal human rights. One of the most evident forms that were withheld from African-Americans came in the structure of the performing arts; specifically film. The common population did not allow blacks to drink from the same water fountain let alone share the same television waves or stage. But over time the strength of the expectant black actors and actresses overwhelmed the majority force to stop blacks from appearing on film. For the longest time the performing arts were the only way for African-Americans to express the deep pain that the white population placed in front of them. Singing, dancing and acting took many African-Americans to a place that no oppressor could reach; considering the exploitation of their character during the 1930's-1960's acting' was an essential technique to African American survival.
Burlesque Goes Delightfully Mainstream”, burlesque is the “rising tide of sexy, saucy stripping as retro art follows a trend of burlesque going mainstream.” and based on the pictures she decided to attach to her article, associations of burlesque with White, heterosexual, slim yet voluptuous in “all the right places” female sensuality is telling of what society feels comfortable mainstreaming, consuming, digesting, and shows a lack diversity. In Sydney F. Lewis 's article “Women of Color in Burlesque: The Not-So-Hidden-History”, she gives a thoughtful understanding and reason for why women of color who did burlesque had limited documentation. She states that after browsing online for eight hours and flipping through documents containing Black strippers from the 1940s-70s "I have come to the conclusion that, just as I suspected, the omission of Black Women and other Women of Color from the realm of burlesque...is willed ignorance-ignorance, lazy scholarship, and yup, I 'll say it, racist brands of white feminism." (Lewis, 2011) I 'm going to first discuss how the neo-burlesque/queer burlesque movement uses the performance of gender to depart from and reinforce heterosexual cultural
It is human nature to tell stories and to appreciate and participate in theatre traditions in every society. Every culture expresses theatre and may have their own traditions that have helped pave the way for how they are today. The involvement of African-Americans has increased tremendously in theatre since the nineteenth century and continues to increase as time goes on. African-Americans have overcome many obstacles with getting their rights and the participation and involvement of Theatre was something also worth fighting for. American history has played an important role with the participation of African-Americans in theatre. Slavery occurrence in America made it difficult for blacks in America to be taken seriously and to take on the characters of more serious roles. With many obstacles in the way African-Americans fought for their rights and also for the freedom that they deserved in America. As the participation of African-Americans involvement within the theatre increase so do the movements in which help make this possible. It is the determination of these leaders, groups, and Theaters that helped increase the participation and created the success that African-Americans received throughout history in American Theatre.
The most trending music genre gets a lot of listeners because of its the discrimination. As the songs and advertisements gain followers, it starts to become realized by the citizens. Pop culture artists sing about drugs, alcohol and women. The portrayal of women by these composers is dreadful because it degrades the significance and importance of their existence. Pop culture has always been a home for gender domination and discrimination. It is becoming increasingly “pornified.” As Valenti quotes, “After all, while billboards and magazines ads may feature a ripped guy from time to time, it’s mostly women who make up what sexy is supposed to be. And it’s not just sexy-it’s straight-up sex” (Valenti, 44). The pornography has been a part of the culture and has been accepted by younger women. Feminists have argued that this has increased the inculcation of “raunch culture” in the lives of younger women who fall into it as they feel it empowers them. However, it is a kind of faux empowerment. This illustrates that the media is promoting and utilizing pop culture to change the social norms in an attempt to instruct women on their role in the society. In essence, pop culture with its propaganda desires to change women’s view on nudity until it can become inherent in American culture, and thus eliminating opposition to benefit pop culture in the long run. Valenti persuades her readers by saying, “ the ‘show’ is everywhere. In magazines like Maxim and Playboy. And in the insanity of Girls Gone Wild, with teens putting on fake lesbian make-out sessions so guys will think they’re hot.” Levy also mentions a character, influenced by raunch culture and a reader of Playboy magazines, named Erin who is piqued her curiosity and provided her with inspiration because of this culture. Erin says, “There’s countless times in my life where I know I’ve turned people on just by showing off (by putting on a
WRITE A COHERENT ESSAY IN WHICH YOU ATTEMPT TO EXPLAIN THE USE OF BLACK ICONIC IMAGES (AND OTHER ETHNIC IMAGES) TO SELL PRODUCTS AS THE ECONOMY OF MASS CONSUMPTION EXPANDED IN THE LATE 19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURY. YOU ARE ENCOURAGED TO INCLUDE IMAGES IN YOUR PAPER.